Principal Product Manager

The death of the travel search box? For more than two decades, the online travel agency has been one of the most powerful forces in hospitality. A traveller wants a hotel, so they go to Booking.com, Expedia or another OTA. They enter a destination, dates and number of guests, scroll through hundreds of options, compare prices and reviews, and eventually make a booking. It is a model that has transformed hotel distribution. But what happens when the traveller stops searching? That may sound like a strange question, but the rise of generative and "agentic" AI could fundamentally change the way people buy travel. Instead of typing "hotels in Cape Town" into a search box, a traveller could simply tell an AI assistant: "Find me a boutique hotel in Cape Town for four nights, close to good restaurants, with a pool and a room under R4,000 a night. I want somewhere quiet but within easy reach of the city." The AI doesn't necessarily need to show the traveller 200 hotels. It can simply recommend three. And increasingly, it may be able to complete the booking as well. This is where the traditional OTA model faces an interesting challenge. The OTA has historically controlled the search, comparison and transaction. But AI could potentially sit one step earlier in the customer journey - becoming the interface through which the traveller discovers what to buy. The major OTAs are certainly not ignoring this threat. Booking Holdings is investing heavily in AI and says it is already generating benefits from the technology, particularly in customer service. At the same time, the company has acknowledged the potential for AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Google's Gemini to disrupt online travel. Expedia is taking a similar approach, developing AI-powered planning and booking tools and integrating travel discovery into other digital platforms. Its own research also reveals an important caveat: travellers may embrace AI for planning, but almost 70% still prefer trusted travel brands when it comes to actually booking. So perhaps the OTA isn't dying. Perhaps it is evolving. The bigger question for hotels is what happens to visibility. For years, hotels have invested in SEO, rankings, reviews, photography and distribution in the hope of appearing in front of the customer. In an AI-driven travel world, the battle may increasingly become: Will the AI recommend me? That is a very different marketing challenge. And it makes accurate information, strong reviews, a credible website and a consistent digital presence more important than ever. The irony is that AI could actually make hospitality more human. If technology takes care of searching, comparing, planning and booking, then the real competitive advantage may increasingly be what happens after the booking. The welcome at reception. The waiter who remembers your name. The chef who cares about the plate. The manager who fixes a problem before the guest has to complain. The moments that cannot be reduced to an algorithm. The travel search box may not disappear tomorrow. But its role is changing. And for hospitality, the lesson is simple: Don't just ask whether guests can find you online. Start asking whether the machines that increasingly help guests make decisions will recommend you. Stephen is a hospitality professional from Johannesburg South Africa. His career started with THF hotels in the UK and subsequently with the Southern Sun Hotel group in Johannesburg. Stephen's first steps into entrepreneurship was Hickmore Recruitment / CareerMap, a leading supplier of Senior and Exec recruitment services. Stephen was a founder of Pple Hospitality (formerly HSC) the largest Hospitality Industry full-service outsourced staffing company in South Africa. In March 2020 Stephen became a director and owner of the Swiss Hotel School South Africa, which is now his full time passion. SHS - Institute of Hospitality Management SHS - Institute of Culinary Arts Stephen writes for a number of publications on food and hospitality industry matters, trends and opinions. He also hosts a Podcast on Spotify "Hospitality Insight with The SilverFox"

Expedia keeps "See Yourself in Canada" going with character-led travel films. Expedia continues its Canada travel series with four films built around a guessing game, spotlighting how story structure can carry destination There is a specific kind of travel content that people actually finish: the kind that feels like you are tagging along with someone who is genuinely curious, not watching a glossy montage of landmarks. That is the lane Expedia is leaning into again with its "See Yourself in Canada" work, using a simple human hook (two friends playing a guessing game) to make destinations feel less like brochure copy and more like a shared experience. Table of contents. Jump to each section: Why "character-first" travel storytelling keeps working. People do not fall in love with a destination because a video lists vineyards, mountains, lakes, and coastlines. They fall in love because they can picture themselves in the moment: the joking around, the small surprises, the feeling of being slightly lost but in a good way. Character-driven travel films also map to how audiences scroll. Viewers give you a few seconds to prove there is a story, not just scenery. When the narrative starts with people (and a premise), the location gets to reveal itself naturally instead of being "sold." What Expedia's latest Canada chapter includes. Expedia partnered with production company Voyager on the latest installment of "See Yourself in Canada," a co-branded travel series with Destination Canada. This chapter includes four films: one highlighting Destination Canada overall, plus three that focus on New Brunswick, Kelowna in British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island. The spots are directed by Voyager's Charles Frank and edited by Leap Year's Nico Frank. Across the region-specific films, two women explore each destination while playing a guessing game that builds through playful questions before landing on the invitation to "See Yourself in" each place. Why the guessing-game format is a smart creative device. A guessing game is a lightweight plot engine. It gives viewers a reason to keep watching because there is an answer coming, and it invites them to play along from the couch. It also changes what "destination marketing" feels like. Instead of telling audiences what to think about a place, the creative lets the environment do the talking while the characters react in real time. That reaction is the transferable part: viewers can imagine their own version of awe, silliness, and connection, which the director explicitly described as the on-set feeling the films aimed to capture. From a brand perspective, the device does something useful without feeling like strategy: it keeps the Expedia message from interrupting the story. The tagline lands after the viewer has already emotionally "arrived." What this means for marketers. Travel marketing works best when it mirrors how people actually choose trips: not by memorising facts, but by imagining a vibe and who they want to be with when they get there. * Give audiences a reason to watch beyond the visuals A simple narrative mechanism (like a game or a mystery) can hold attention longer than beauty shots alone, especially in short-form viewing habits. * Let the destination be revealed, not explained When the creative is built around real reactions, the place feels discovered. That discovery is more shareable than a list of attractions. * Use repetition as a series, not as a copy-paste template Keeping the same core format across multiple regions makes each film feel connected while still allowing each location to stand on its own. * Make the brand line feel like a conclusion, not an interruption "See Yourself in" works best when it reads like the natural wrap-up to the viewer's own mental story of being there. Over time, the travel brands that win attention tend to be the ones that treat destinations like culture and experience, not inventory. Character-led formats are a practical way to do that without overproducing or overexplaining. They also hint at a bigger shift: audiences increasingly trust stories that feel lived-in. When a campaign captures the feeling of being somewhere, the marketing becomes easier because the viewer has already done the most important step themselves, imagining their place inside it. This article is created by humans with AI assistance, powered by ContentGrow. Ready to automate your content marketing? Book a discovery call today. Apply this article to your work Tell ContentGrip who you are - ContentGrip'll turn this into specific next steps for you. The more specific, the sharper your insights. Vague: "grow my business" Good: "land 2 fintech PR retainers in SEA by Q3"

Expedia leans on AI and B2B growth to lift outlook after strong Q2. Expedia Group entered the summer travel season with more than just strong demand, according to its recent earnings call. The company used its second-quarter results to argue that its strategy of pairing artificial intelligence (AI) investments with a fast-growing B2B business is giving it multiple engines for growth, even as parts of Europe remain soft and the broader travel industry faces a more uncertain economic backdrop. Executives said consumers are still prioritizing travel, particularly in the U.S., where longer trips and earlier bookings helped push results above expectations for the fifth consecutive quarter. CEO Ariane Gorin said Expedia also benefited from demand tied to the recent 2026 FIFA World Cup late in the quarter and continued momentum across its business-to-business operations. "We had a solid second quarter, delivering strong financial results while making tangible progress on our strategic priorities," Gorin told analysts on Wednesday (Aug. 5). "We exceeded the high end of both our top- and bottom-line expectations for the fifth quarter in a row." She added that healthy travel demand and the company's first-half performance prompted Expedia to raise its full-year guidance. Much of the earnings call centered on AI, though executives framed it less as a standalone product and more as a tool for business operations. Expedia said AI is making search, recommendations and trip planning more personalized while helping engineers develop products more quickly. The company has also expanded partnerships with AI platforms, including ChatGPT and Google's newer AI services, and recently agreed to acquire AI travel planning app Layla as it looks to reach travelers earlier in the booking process. During the question-and-answer session, Gorin said the company is already seeing measurable benefits from AI inside its core products while also preparing for a future in which more travelers begin their journeys through AI-powered search tools instead of traditional websites. "We are seeing immediate impact," she said, referring to AI-powered recommendations, personalization and search ranking. Gorin said that the technology is also helping Expedia better understand traveler preferences and build deeper customer relationships over time. Executives also pointed to Expedia's B2B business as a major contributor to growth. The segment posted its 20th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth as the company continued building what it describes as a one-stop travel platform for partners. Chief Financial Officer Derek Andersen said disciplined marketing, tighter cost controls and continued demand helped drive margin expansion during the quarter. While growth is expected to moderate in the third quarter because of tougher year-over-year comparisons and foreign exchange pressures, Expedia raised its outlook for the full year, including higher expectations for bookings, revenue and adjusted EBITDA margins. Key figures: * Gross bookings increased 12% year over year to $33.9 billion, while revenue climbed 14% to $4.3 billion. * Adjusted EBITDA grew 23% to $1.12 billion, with adjusted EBITDA margin expanding by 196 basis points. * Expedia increased its full-year outlook to 8% to 9% gross bookings growth, 9% to 10% revenue growth and 150 to 175 basis points of adjusted EBITDA margin expansion. Expedia reported overall Q2 revenue of $4.315 billion, up 14% from a year earlier, on gross bookings of $30.4 billion. Net income attributable to Expedia surged to $878 million from $330 million a year ago, while adjusted EBITDA reached $1.119 billion. Management said resilient consumer travel demand, accelerating B2B growth, improving operating efficiency and expanding use of AI across the platform positioned the company to raise its financial outlook for the remainder of 2026.